International Social Work, Ahead of Print.
Social work in Israel’s indigenous Arab society developed late relative to its Jewish counterpart. Based on primary and secondary sources and semi-structured interviews with Arab social workers who were employed in social welfare bureaus during the years under review, the article describes and explains the development of social work in Israel’s Arab society in its formative years. The findings indicate this social work developed under government policies that recognized the needs of Arab society but allocated its welfare bureaus fewer resources than to the country’s Jewish society. These policies also failed to recognize the Arab narrative in welfare delivery and to incorporate Arab representation in decision-making. The relevant bodies in Israel that dealt with social work, primarily the Ministry of Welfare, used various strategies to maintain a dual system of welfare services – one for Jewish citizens and a poorer one for Arabs citizens.